Tzfat Gallery
Judaica in the Old Jewish Quarter
When Chani and Uri Porat opened their gallery on Yosef Caro Street in the Old City of Tzfat, most people thought that they were wasting their time and money. At that time, there were few galleries in the Old Jewish Quarter - most of the art in Tzfat was located across the parking lot, in the Artists Quarter. But the Porats persisted. They purchased an old stone ruin which they began to renovate, and slowly, they began attracting artists who wanted to be represented in Tzfat.
Unlike the art in the Artists Quarter, the Porats decided to concentrate on Judaica in the Old City, and their vision of expanding the Judaica market into the Old City of Tzfat has caught on. Today, the street is lined with shops, both those of individual artists and those of galleries who exhibit the works of other artists, as the Porats had envisioned almost 20 years ago.
Many of the artists that Tzfat-Gallery represents are Israel's newest and most creative Judaica artists and craftspeople. The Tzfat-Gallery exhibits art of almost every medium imaginable - glass, metal, oil and water paintings, sculptures, paper cuttings, and many more.
A Sampling of the Artists
A few of the artists represented in Tzfat-Gallery:
Israeli artist Dan Shamir grew up in Kibbutz Ma‘ayan Zvi. He painted throughout his childhood, but when he was 17 he was diagnosed with a difficult condition, whereby his waking and sleeping are unregulated. After his diagnosis, Shamir became more involved with his art, which radiates his optimistic outlook. Shamir uses intense colors that he believes reflect the way he sees life - he uses the images that he sees in everyday life to show the follies and complexities relationships and life. His wall sculptures, paintings, vases and free-standing sculptures, especially his Judaica, give a new meaning to the word "whimsical".
Lev Shneiderman is originally from the Former Soviet Union. He established his gallery in the Negev in 1997, where one can see the influence of the desert on his art, which is clean and stylized. He brings his feelings and emotions to his designs, and these influences are especially fitting to a gallery in Tzfat. In fact, Lev acknowledges this saying, "An item that has been handled many times with love and care emits a certain mystical energy." He is the house designer for the President of Israel and the Knesset, and his Judaica, mezuzahs (inscriptions on Jewish doorposts), dreidels (spinning tops) , menorah (candelabra), tzdekka box (charity box) and Hamsa (hand-outline, good-luck symbol) have been given to visiting heads of States by Israeli dignitaries for many years.
Seeka is a partnership of Nachson and Stavit, two Israeli-born Brooklyn artists who create high-tech Judaica and jewelry. Their technique involves the combination of steel, paints, resin and found objects in combination with hand-painted acrylics to create unique pieces that give a new twist to Judaica. The colors in their works are vivid, their combination of different and unusual materials goes beyond creativity, and even their jewelry embodies Jewish themes and symbols. Many of the pieces include Swarovski crystals and semi-precious stones, but what makes the pieces so compelling is the integration of the metals, paints, and shapes.
